While century-old Cape Cods and bungalows proliferate in the greater Washington area, well-preserved Bauhaus structures from the period are few and far between. So when architect Richard Williams first laid eyes on a 1936 Bauhaus home with potential buyers, he was stoked. ?Coming across a home in this style that?s still intact, though it had been added onto, was a real find,? he recalls.
The couple with two young kids was also smitten with the property, located on a wooded, two-and-a-half-acre site overlooking a lake in suburban Maryland. After Williams made a quick study to see if renovating the dated gem was feasible for their budget, they cinched the deal. Originally designed by New York architects Robert Hutchins and William Huntington, the residence embraced the Bauhaus style of its day with a flat roof, strong horizontal lines and minimal exterior detail. Updates in the 1980s and ?90s created a second-level primary suite and, on the western side of the home, added on new living space, a pool cabana and a garage. Stuck with compartmentalized rooms, lackluster finishes and a convoluted layout, the six-bedroom residence was ripe for improvement. ?It was an amazing place that had been abused and misunderstood,? relates Williams, who was hired for the redo. ?We needed to get it back to its roots and bring a 21st-century sensibility to this very cool house.? The architect and his team envisioned a makeover that would streamline the floor plan, modernize the interiors and fo...